Good morning lovely readers! Today's blog post is brought to you by my super boyfriend because he's interested in learning how to read an origami diagram. Now, I know you might be thinking, "pffft, why would anyone need to learn that?" but dear readers it is more difficult than it sounds! Most origami patterns don't use words but instead symbols to show how things should be folded. AND if the pattern does use words, they're typically translated from another language and do not necessarily translate well.
So, first step, let's find a pattern! There are plenty of patterns online in videos or printables, as well as books. The site I'd recommend for beginners would be Origami Club- http://en.origami-club.com/index.html . Not only is it filled with diagrams, but it has printable paper that you can use if you don't have origami paper. I'm going to show you the origami crane pattern which is one of my favorites.
So, first step, let's find a pattern! There are plenty of patterns online in videos or printables, as well as books. The site I'd recommend for beginners would be Origami Club- http://en.origami-club.com/index.html . Not only is it filled with diagrams, but it has printable paper that you can use if you don't have origami paper. I'm going to show you the origami crane pattern which is one of my favorites.
So with this pattern we have a mix of words, arrows, and lines. The dashed line signifies a fold which means you're going to make a fold that creates a small crease. In the first step, a fold is used, the arrow shows you the way to make that fold. The thin black arrows show you the way the paper should be moving, and the dotted lines show folds that are being made for the first time, make sense so far?
In this pattern, there is also thicker white arrows. These arrows are showing where a space is going to be made. Take a look at step 3, there are 2 sections of paper folded in half on top of each other. (so 4 pieces total) The top layer is about to be moved. The left hand corner is going to be "squash folded" onto the bottom corner. This means that the dashed line is going to become an edge of a square and you have to go under the first layer to make the paper. That is what the arrow is signifying.
The other cool thing about this diagram is that it is 100% symmetrical. What ever you do once, you will without a doubt have to do it again.
Troubleshooting: If you get stuck on a fold, look at the next picture to help you understand what you have to do. The next step will show you what the fold should have ended up looking like.
If paper diagrams don't work for you, try a youtube video! There are so many good origami tutorials on youtube. It's helpful for people who are visual learners to check this out if the diagram